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I´m a doctor of medicine specializing in forensics. I have worked in a county
jail since 1995 and I´ve investigated -and go on doing it- the problems of
mentally disordered offenders, especially these subjects who commit sexual
crimes against children. I agree with the ideas posted by Ethics Code
which says that, for a doctor, every person is just a person and nothing
but a person; instead, Günther Jakobs, a German lawyer, says that a
citizen is a person who observes and respects the social law. So, a
person who commits violent crimes does not respect social law; instead, a
person who is mentally disordered cannot respect social law. But they are
both dangerous people, really very dangerous people. Then, I ask: is a
mentally disordered offender who cannot respect social law because of his
illness and who, in addition, commits a crime, really a true citizen?
Does he have the same rights as other people? If he does, can he really
understand his rights? And his obligations? Who is, as doctors, our
first responsibility: the violent offender who is ill or the
other citizens?
As a doctor, I consider the criminal just as a person, but a dangerous
person and I want him in jail or any other institution that provides
security for this person and for society.
Mentally disordered people, if they commit crimes, turn into dangerous people
and we have to separate them from the other people, those who are -in
Jakobs' words- really citizens.
Criminal behavior concerns doctors too, and we have to explain our position
clearly.
Mentally disordered offenders
I´m a doctor of medicine specializing in forensics. I have worked in a county
jail since 1995 and I´ve investigated -and go on doing it- the problems of
mentally disordered offenders, especially these subjects who commit sexual
crimes against children. I agree with the ideas posted by Ethics Code
which says that, for a doctor, every person is just a person and nothing
but a person; instead, Günther Jakobs, a German lawyer, says that a
citizen is a person who observes and respects the social law. So, a
person who commits violent crimes does not respect social law; instead, a
person who is mentally disordered cannot respect social law. But they are
both dangerous people, really very dangerous people. Then, I ask: is a
mentally disordered offender who cannot respect social law because of his
illness and who, in addition, commits a crime, really a true citizen?
Does he have the same rights as other people? If he does, can he really
understand his rights? And his obligations? Who is, as doctors, our
first responsibility: the violent offender who is ill or the
other citizens?
As a doctor, I consider the criminal just as a person, but a dangerous
person and I want him in jail or any other institution that provides
security for this person and for society.
Mentally disordered people, if they commit crimes, turn into dangerous people
and we have to separate them from the other people, those who are -in
Jakobs' words- really citizens.
Criminal behavior concerns doctors too, and we have to explain our position
clearly.
Dr. Alejandro A. Bevaqua
Del Valle 437
8000 Bahía Blanca - Buenos Aires
Argentina
e-mail: bevaquaalejandro@hotmail.com
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests